Am I eating enough

SophieA9083
SophieA9083 Posts: 63
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I know some days I over eat but I am a student and sometimes it's needed, but generally am I eating enough? I don't believe the numbers the gym equipment is telling me so I often round down. I know my diet isn't amazing but could anyone help me by checking and seeing what I could improve on. I had a particular week where I had a lot of sodium but it was a week filled with celebrations and home-made pasties as I am Cornish and it is what I do best!

Thank you all,

Sophie

Replies

  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    bump :(
  • pamwhite712
    pamwhite712 Posts: 193 Member
    I noticed that this past Sunday it says you burned 1174 calories. What kind of exercises are you doing? Where are you getting your calories burned from? Because there are several days where it shows you've burned over 600 calories. I'm just curious about that- if it's off then you can either be under-eating or over-eating.
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    I noticed that this past Sunday it says you burned 1174 calories. What kind of exercises are you doing? Where are you getting your calories burned from? Because there are several days where it shows you've burned over 600 calories. I'm just curious about that- if it's off then you can either be under-eating or over-eating.
    I went for a swim and swam for an hour and did 1k, I worked out how long I was swimming each stroke from, and used a website for swimming enthusiasts to calculate how many calories I may have burnt, and it seemed to match MFP. I also play the oboe, as I am studying oboe which used Core muscles and diagram a lot. If I practice for an hour I am usually exhausted and depending on whether I played a lot, mildly sweaty. MFP said my calorie burn for playing the oboe was something like 168/hour but I don not play continuously so I round it down, for example in a 60 minute practice I will do 30 minutes solid playing with breaks between for bars rest and for making.adjusting reeds. I had a concert yesterday which was 3 hours of rehearsal and 2 hours of playing, I certainly felt that this morning when I crawled out of bed!
  • pamwhite712
    pamwhite712 Posts: 193 Member
    Well, if you feel as if the calories burned is correct, then you're not eating enough on several of the days I looked at. The days where you still had 100-200 calories left are okay- I usually try to be within +/- 100 calories of my goal. But you have days where you still have 700 to 900 calories left and that's not really good for you.

    I'm sure someone who knows more will come along and give you some good advice.
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    Well, if you feel as if the calories burned is correct, then you're not eating enough on several of the days I looked at. The days where you still had 100-200 calories left are okay- I usually try to be within +/- 100 calories of my goal. But you have days where you still have 700 to 900 calories left and that's not really good for you.

    I'm sure someone who knows more will come along and give you some good advice.
    Ok it's just I get a little confused especially if I have eaten lets say 2000 calories and worked off 600 of those, I feel bad for eating again especially if I am not hungry!
  • Katrinadionne1808
    Katrinadionne1808 Posts: 95
    Try eating something high cal that is good for you, so peanuts (unsalted), seeds, even dried fruit. I sometimes have a bowl of raisins, sunflower seeds and apricots on my desk to stall my cravings for chocolate during the day. I could for the same amount of calories have a nice big piece of chococolate - but with what I have mentioned for a smallish sized bowl you can be looking at approx 200 calories. Or perhaps a protein shake?

    Sometimes when you are active it's hard to eat all the calories, but on these days I try make sure i eat something that has higher cals.

    However if i have 100-200 left i don't tend to stress as I know on other days I can go over. I prefer to look at my weekly average.
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    Try eating something high cal that is good for you, so peanuts (unsalted), seeds, even dried fruit. I sometimes have a bowl of raisins, sunflower seeds and apricots on my desk to stall my cravings for chocolate during the day. I could for the same amount of calories have a nice big piece of chococolate - but with what I have mentioned for a smallish sized bowl you can be looking at approx 200 calories. Or perhaps a protein shake?

    Sometimes when you are active it's hard to eat all the calories, but on these days I try make sure i eat something that has higher cals.

    However if i have 100-200 left i don't tend to stress as I know on other days I can go over. I prefer to look at my weekly average.
    Thank you, I am frightened to go over my numbers with foods, especially sugar, but I suppose if its fruit sugar it's not too bad?
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member

    Thank you, I am frightened to go over my numbers with foods, especially sugar, but I suppose if its fruit sugar it's not too bad?

    The model MFP gives you for "sugar" is generally considered to be for ADDED sugar. Unless you're having a grapefruit with a teaspoon of sugar sprinkled on it, don't sweat the sugar in fruit. Save it for the sugar in Pop Tarts and Ice Cream ;)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Short answer - I think you're eating enough. But that's cos I don't believe you HAVE to eat back every last one of your exercise calories.

    You're eating more than 1200 per day - this is good.

    You're eating extra when you exercise - no problem.

    Why are you asking the quesiton? How long have you been trying and what are your results like?

    And can I ask about your soda bread at 309 calories per serving - what sort is that?
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
    the only definative answer for this is are you acheiving your weight/measurement gains or loses you're aiming for?
  • RosscoBoscko
    RosscoBoscko Posts: 632 Member
    Short answer - I think you're eating enough. But that's cos I don't believe you HAVE to eat back every last one of your exercise calories.

    You're eating more than 1200 per day - this is good.

    You're eating extra when you exercise - no problem.

    Why are you asking the quesiton? How long have you been trying and what are your results like?

    And can I ask about your soda bread at 309 calories per serving - what sort is that?

    Agree mostly with this. In terms of eating back your exercise calories it depends what your aiming to do at the moment. If maintaining then by all means eat some or all of them. If trying to lose a bit then maybe eat back fewer, but overall looks like a healthy amount to me (on the proviso that i'm no expert so its just my opinion).
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63

    Why are you asking the quesiton? How long have you been trying and what are your results like?

    And can I ask about your soda bread at 309 calories per serving - what sort is that?
    I have been trying a month and a bit, I have noticed that my stomach has shrunk so I can't eat as much food, and as for soda bread it was home-made with a 2:1 ratio of flour to oats- bizzare I know but it made a good sized loaf which I quartered, it was probably less than the calories MFP worked it out as, as I am still tweaking the recipe, I.e reducing milk and adding more water :)
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    the only definative answer for this is are you acheiving your weight/measurement gains or loses you're aiming for?
    Haha, for a while I lost weight but I haven't these past two weigh ins, despite doing more, although it could be stress, but I have noticed my clothes are looser but not always in the places I take my measurements- they have shrunk and little, and I am definitely gaining muscle as I now have some biceps and can manage some form of press-up! :)
  • beckymlong
    beckymlong Posts: 111 Member
    I have been concerned about the same thing I have recently increased my exercise regimes and reduced my calorie intake (I do like a good pig-out a bit too much) I have heard that you have to eat what you burn so as not to starve yourself and have tried to aim for a 1,200 cal per day diet, but some say this is not enough. I'm confused also...
  • Ally_93
    Ally_93 Posts: 45 Member
    Good question, I am confused too. I exercise and try and eat less calories but apparently I don't eat enough... I feel bad if I feel like I'm eating heaps especially if I'm trying to lose weight and if I eat 4 or more times a day.
  • SophieA9083
    SophieA9083 Posts: 63
    Glad other people are confused a little too!
  • beckymlong
    beckymlong Posts: 111 Member
    Ok, I have been looking around, please don't take my post as gospel instead use it as a base for your own research because I'm only just learning myself. I think there are two schools of thought:

    1.) A calorie deficient plan with exercise I think for people who want to lose a lot (again I'm only just going by what I've read and interpreted please correct me if I'm wrong but don't shout at me, ha) then you eat back calories burned.

    2.) A tdee plan where you find out how many calories you use in a day including those that have been burned in exercise/work etc. this tends to be much higher and was very daunting to me when I saw I should be having 2400 calories a day, which I struggle to do healthily !I have also heard about a reset to eat your highest calorie requirements for a few Weeks and then to reduce it by x% to suit your needs.

    My next step is to try to find out which plan suits me, I have yet to work out percentage and gram requirements for my nutrients but obviously that will depend on how many calories I will be netting daily. I'm worried that if I bulk my calories for two Weeks I may gain extra weight that I can't shift. So any extra advice, corrections etc is greatly received what plan have people been doing and what is working for you?
  • twelfty
    twelfty Posts: 576 Member
    can i have height and current weight please? i'll show you how to work it out

Categories